He looks like a bodybuilder contrary to them but he is still one of the most overrated bodybuilder ever. He really doesn't deserve so much praise as he is far from having perfect genetic. He was lucky to compete during a weak area, not really cause of the poor level, but cause of the lack of competitors as bodybuiding was not developped yet. Put him against guys from the 90s or 2000s and you will realize how many weak points he had against guys like Flex, Haney, Coleman, Cormier, Dexter etc...

I've heard guys say this kind of thing numerous times, that the guys from the 70's couldn't compete with the modern day lineups from the 90's on.

That's a hard statement to make...sure, guys like Arnold and Sergio could never stand up as they were then with the guys now, not even close, but bring them to the same era and they'd be doing the same things the guys now are doing. They'd be using more hormones, eating very differently, not training 122hrs per wk, and getting much leaner with less water. You'd have an even bigger and better Arnold.

Kevin Levrone underrated? I quess everyone is underrated then... The guy was a star his whole career and he's not forgotten. All the big names of 90s are not underrated. You could make a case of Chris Cormier but then again he excelled only in one ocation and got beat by the same guys year after year.

Mike Mentzer. He came in 5th in the 1980 Olympia but his fans think he should have won. He lost the Universe twice. One to Robby Robinson and one to Kalman. Both times I believe they clearly beat him and again his fans and Mentzer thinks he should have won. He entered the Olympia against Zane and he looked so smooth in comparison yet his fans think he should have won.

I will say this in the history of modern bodybuilding he was one of the most influential bodybuilders ever. Just a couple of things he brought back from the past or deviates from what was accepted.

1. Training the whole body three times a week.2. He brought back rotation for recuperation from Frank Calta where body the body was trained three times a week but body parts got hit once or twice a week. So Monday was Thighs, Chest, and triceps. Wednesday was lats, delts and bicep. Friday you go back to Monday's routine. Next week it's reversed so Wednesday's routine is Monday and Friday. 3. He said you can train a body part once a week. Radical stuff back then.4. Said it's calories in and calories out that matter. 5. Actually said he used steroids.6. During his prime he used aerobics heavily but then when he retired he was against it. 7. Said a bodybuilder should pursue strength gains.8. Actually said bodybuilders lie about their arm size and told everyone what his arm size was when he weighed 225lbs. A true 20 inch arm is rare unless you weigh the same as a baby hippo.9. Said Nautilus were the greatest machines ever made.

Mike Mentzer. He came in 5th in the 1980 Olympia but his fans think he should have won. He lost the Universe twice. One to Robby Robinson and one to Kalman. Both times I believe they clearly beat him and again his fans and Mentzer thinks he should have won. He entered the Olympia against Zane and he looked so smooth in comparison yet he thinks he shold have won.

I will say this in the history of modern bodybuilding he was one of the most influential bodybuilders ever. Just a couple of things he brought back from the past.

1. Training the whole body three times a week.2. He brought back rotation for recuperation from Frank Calta where body the body was trained three times a week but body parts got hit once or twice a week. So Monday was Thighs, Chest, and triceps. Wednesday was lats, delts and bicep. Friday you go back to Monday's routine. Next week it's reversed so Wednesday's routine is Monday and Friday. 3. He said you can train a body part once a week. 4. Said it's calories in and calories out that matter. 5. Actually said he used steroids.6. During his prime he used aerobics heavily but then when he retired he was against it. 7. Said a bodybuilder should pursue strength gains.8. Actually said bodybuilders lie about their arm size and told everyone what his arm size was when he weighed 225lbs. A true 20 inch arm is rare unless you weigh the same as a baby hippo.9. Said Nautilus were the greatest machines ever made.

I will think of more later.

Not sure if his Physique in itself was overrated, it was Very good when in Shape, and remember he was the first and only Person ever with a Perfect 300 in the Mr Universe way back in the late 70s when that sort of thing was a Big Deal, as for the 1980 O results... well sometimes you get the expressway to the top, other times you get the back road into the Ditch, for whatever reasons he never found a way out of it, Great Physique when in Shape, Mentality to handle things that didnt go his way Not so.

-King kamali's gotta be up there. Had a body structure of a frog by the end of his active career, really a physique hit hard by palumboism. He actually beat a near prime Wolf 4-5 yrs ago

-Jay Cutler... he was good, very good up until the early 2000s. Had a decent showing at his comeback O but his physique has aged and will never have the quality (circa 2001) that it once did.

-Branch Warren.. how the fuck has he placed top 3 olympia and won the arnold classic is beyond me. The judging criterion is completely fucked if you can win shows based purely on muscle mass and conditioning... because clearly you can have both and still look like utter dog shit on stage

Not sure if his Physique in itself was overrated, it was Very good when in Shape, and remember he was the first and only Person ever with a Perfect 300 in the Mr Universe way back in the late 70s when that sort of thing was a Big Deal, as for the 1980 O results... well sometimes you get the expressway to the top, other times you get the back road into the Ditch, for whatever reasons he never found a way out of it, Great Physique when in Shape, Mentality to handle things that didnt go his way Not so.[/

I read my post and I now feel I shouldn't have even brought it up Mentzer as over rated. He was someone I followed closely back in the day and I read everything I could on training about him. Any article he wrote I ripped out a magazine and I put in a file. I might have the most complete Mike Mentzer article file anywhere. He was a great physique champion. His perfect 300 just reflects how subjective scoring is. Maybe I'm wrong but I think that perfect 300 was when he won the Southern Cup not the Universe.